Destiny Bond
by Your Royal Hiney
Summary: SET IN PMD TIME/DARKNESS/SKY UNIVERSE This is before Grovyle. This is before there was any hope. This was when Primal Dialga first took reign over the world. This was when the world was just paralysed. Some Pokémon went mad. Some Pokémon pledged loyalty to Dialga. Others rebelled. Antonio Gliscor is a rebel. He's the Grovyle before Grovyle. Except he couldn't save the world.
1. Prologue

Paralysation is the bleakest future imaginable. I should know. I've lived in a time when the world was green and healthy, and a time when the darkness never ends.

You might be familiar with a Pokémon called Grovyle. Well, this is before his time, when the world was newly paralysed.

When the darkness first fell, nobody knew how to deal with it. It took weeks for me to come to terms with what had befallen my home, and weeks more to realize there was nothing I could do.

Some Pokémon went mad. Others swore alliance to the only Pokémon who they believed could salvage this world and make a living for them, Primal Dialga.

I would never work for him. He's the reason this happened. And there are more Pokémon like me, Pokémon who are neither mad nor serving Primal Dialga. In a world that Primal Dialga has under his thumb, we're referred to as rogues.

That's not true. We're the only survivors of what the world used to be. Everyone else has surrendered to the darkness.

Grovyle was born into a paralysed world, and grew up to become to saviour of this terrible future. But before him there was little hope. We all just did our best to survive.

As for me, I was born in a humble village, to a thoroughly middleclass family. I had many relatives, and we all lived together. We were all very close. I knew everyone in my village by name. I never wanted to be an explorer or anything, I just wanted to start a family of my own and grow old while surrounded by my grandchildren.

I remember the day Temporal Tower collapsed so vividly. Everyone was running and screaming. The earth was breaking up beneath our feet. Buildings crumbled on top of families. The sky blackened, and I watched the sun go out, before my very eyes.

I tried to save them, but I failed. My family died with the sun. My whole village was destroyed, and everyone who lived in it was killed. I managed to pull their bodies from the rubble, but they wouldn't wake up.

I wasn't the only survivor. There was another. But a giant fissure in the ground had separated us, and we had no choice but to go our own ways. I regret that I didn't try harder to get to her. I might have been able to save her.

You see, she took a very different path to me. I went on to become one of the most influential rogues. I would spend most of my life rebelling against Primal Dialga's oppression.

And she went on to become Primal Diagla's closest, most trusted servant. She would spend all her life carrying out his dirty work. She spent all her life scouring the world to eliminate anyone who dared oppose Primal Dialga, flanked by an army of Sableye.

In this desolate future, no one survived very long. I'm not exception. In the grand scheme of things, my tale isn't very important. But I'd still like to tell it, if you'll listen. It's proof that even in this future, before Grovyle or Dusknoir, Pokémon still dared to hope.

My name is Antonio. Antonio Gliscor.


	2. Chapter One

_Our story starts in a dead forest. I was being pursued by Sableye. You see, the rebels had been short on food, and I had volunteered to go foraging. After all, we had children sheltered in our camp, and I couldn't just let them starve._

_Unfortunately, I had strayed too close to Temporal Tower, and before I knew it, I was fleeing from a horde of Sableye, empty-handed._

"He's here somewhere! Find him!"

I held my breath.

I could hear the sound of many feet beneath me. I gripped the tree trunk a little tighter and curled myself deeper into the spindly branches, praying that they would block me from sight.

"He's nowhere, mistress!"

"Don't be ridiculous, he can't just disappear into thin air!"

How I wished I could. If I so much as made a sound, I was sure that they would find me.

"Keep searching!"

I exhaled impatiently. I didn't want to hang around here all night.

I watched the Sableye below me with keen eyes. They were in a frenzy. Darting about the forest and cackling anxiously. Clearly there would be some sort of punishment in store for them if they didn't capture me.

I'd never liked Sableye. They were a bunch of cowards.

A thin-lipped smirk spread over my face. Perhaps I could use their cowardice to my advantage.

I pried my claws off the tree trunk and took a measured step forward. The branch I was perched on swayed unsteadily. I would have to move carefully, or else it would snap.

The Sableye haven't noticed me yet. So before they could hear the branch creaking, I spread my wings and plummeted out of the tree.

The Sableye let out screeches of surprise and leapt out of my way, like the cowards they were.

I turned sharply upward, and flew off into the grey sky before they could call their mistress.

But they didn't need to. She was already there.

Our eyes met for a fleeting second. The edges of my lips tightened and a wicked grin flashed across her face.

As I said before, you probably know who Dusknoir and Grovyle are. Well, she was the Dusknoir of our time. I wish that I had been the Grovyle, but sadly, there hadn't been a Grovyle. If there had been, Primal Dialga wouldn't have had such a firm reign when Grovyle was finally born.

Grovyle was a good sort—the sort of Pokémon who was the stuff of legends. I was far from a hero. I wasn't interested in trying to save the world.

The Sableye's mistresses name was Morgana Cacturne. She and I are the only survivors from our village. Morgana coped with living in a paralysed world by desensitizing herself to agony. She ignored the agony of nature, of the children born into this world, and the people she persecuted.

That way, she didn't bear the burden the rest of us did. Doing Dialga's bidding helped distract her from over thinking her way of life. If you ask me, continuing like this will just lead her to a very sticky end.

"There you are!" Laughed Morgana.

I felt a sharp pain in my backside. I bit my tongue to stop myself from veering off course, and twisted my head around to see what had hurt me.

A few large, white needles had been stuck into my leg. I recognized them immediately. It was Morgana's Pin Missile attack.

An insane grin on her face, Morgana took aim and fired another few rounds of needles at me. I just managed to swerve out of the way.

I was almost out of range. Just a few more metres and Morgana wouldn't be able to reach me. Using this positive thought as fuel, I flew with more vigour, urging my wings to go faster.

And then, I felt the needles stab into the membrane of my wing.

I spiralled out of the sky and landed in a heap onto the ground, cursing loudly.

"He landed over there!" Cried Morgana. "Go, Sableye! Get him! Get him!"

I struggled to get to my feet. My wing was bleeding profusely. I ripped the needles out of my leg and wing, wincing as I did so.

I could hear the Sableye hurrying to apprehend me. I forced myself onto my feet and limped as quickly as I could in the opposite direction.

Morgana mercilessly shot Pin Missile into my back as I tried to hobble away. I keeled over with a shout.

"Truss him up!" Shouted Morgana joyfully. "Hurry, my Sableye, hurry! Master Dialga will be so pleased with us! Truss him up, truss him up!

I hissed at a bold Sableye that scurried over to me wielding lengths of rope. I snapped my pincers threateningly at his feet and felt a surge of satisfaction when he squealed and hopped away from me.

"What are you waiting for?" Said Morgana shrilly.

"Wheh... he's frightening, mistress!" Said the Sableye weakly. "His pincers look awfully strong!"

"Cowards!" Spat Morgana. "I'll do it myself!"

She snatched the rope out of the hands of the Sableye and marched up behind me, reaching for my hands.

My claws flashed out and fixed themselves around Morgana's elbow. I twisted her arm behind her back and brought my other claw to her neck.

"Leave or I'll kill her!" I rasped.

Morgana laughed like a madwoman.

But the Sableye weren't amused. They were backing away from me. And before Morgana could order them to come back, they fled, like the cowards they were.

Morgana tutted under her breath. "I'll have Master Dialga execute them."

I clenched my pincer around her throat and listened to her choking for a few moments. It was such a fulfilling thing to make someone choke.

"You wouldn't do it!" Cackled Morgana. "We're from the same village, remember?!"

The demented grin on her face made me sick to my stomach. I wanted nothing more than to snap her neck, but I was injured so gravely, I couldn't find the strength to. It was maddening.

"What's up with you?" Hummed Morgana. "Does your leg hurt?"

I hissed at her and managed to clench my pincers a little tighter. Her breathing turned to wheezes.

"I... wouldn't do that if... I was you..." She gasped, still wearing that infuriating grin.

I had no breath to answer her with. I felt like something was constricting my breathing.

"What's up? Can't you... breathe?" She chuckled. "Ever heard of... of Destiny... Bond?"

I released her instantly. She fell to the ground on her knees, gasping and holding her neck.

"You didn't." I whispered.

She snorted loudly. "I did!"

"You didn't."

"No, I definitely did. I... I imagine you're familiar with how Destiny Bond works, hm? Well, if you're not, _basically..._ you have to do everything I say otherwise I'll kill myself and you'll go with me!"

My eyes narrowed to slits.

"Well, okay, I lied, maybe that's not exactly how it works!" Morgana cackled. "But that's how it's gonna work between you and me, flyboy."

Finally, the irritating grin slipped off her face, and was replaced with a deadpan expression much like mine, except there was a sinister curve to her lips and malicious gleam in her eyes.

"Come with me to Temporal Tower." She demanded.

"No."

"Come with me to Temporal Tower or I'll stab myself."

I made a furious move in her direction, but she danced out of range.

"Touch me and it'll hurt you just as bad!" Snapped Morgana. "Destiny Bond ensures that if one of us gets hurt, the other one hurts as much as them! We're joined at the hip, my friend! Until you come with me to Temporal Tower!"

"I'd rather die."

"That's a little melodramatic, don't you think? I mean, mull this over for a few minutes... if you come with me, to Temporal Tower, than there is a very, very, _very_ slight chance that you could trick me and walk away unscathed... but, if we decide to end it here and now..."

_And that was how my story began._


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

_Days with Morgana were long and insufferable. _

_I was used to travelling alone. Even though I liked to hang around camp, where most rebels gathered to hide from Primal Dialga, I preferred to be alone. Lonesomeness is healthier than being crowded._

_I never hung around the same person too long. And being stuck with someone, especially someone like Morgana, was unbearable._

_I remember that after a few hours in Morgana's presence, I'd had enough. I didn't want to be led to my death, I didn't want to be around a maniacal scarecrow, and I didn't want to rely on someone else._

_I should have tried to break free of Morgana's clutches a little more subtly. But I was so fed up, subtleness didn't even occur to me._

"You're going to _love _Temporal Tower." Mocked Morgana. "We have the most _divine _interior decoration. Master Dialga's tastes are _exquisite. _Speaking of my master, I bet he's just going to _adore_ you. You could say he's going to love you to death."

I furiously kicked a rock and ground my teeth together. It was taking all the restraint I could muster for me to not punch Morgana.

Morgana cackled loudly, that horrible, twisted grin returning to distort her features. She seemed to enjoy aggravating me.

We were making our way through the dead, dark forest, toward Temporal Tower. Morgana was walking along beside me like we were best friends.

Morgana walked in a very odd way. Her movements were discombobulated and loping. She almost looked like she was on stilts or had prosthetic legs. Like a child learning to take her first steps, she was unsteady and didn't have very good footing.

"Aren't you glad we've got some time to spend together?" Cooed Morgana. "It's been _so long _since we talked properly. _Really, _we have _so much_ catching up to do. How's your family?"

I turned on Morgana with a savage expression.

"Uh-uh-uuuh!" Laughed Morgana, swerving away from a bloodthirsty right hook. "You don't want to do that! Destiny Bond, remember?"

Angrily clenching my pincers together, I deliberated tearing her throat out for a few moments, but decided her life wasn't worth mine. I swept away into the forest.

Morgana jogged to keep up with me. "There's a good boy! We're all learning, aren't we?"

I lashed my tail and thought about giving her a quick nip with my stinger.

"Now, now!" Said Morgana sternly, with that grin still on her face. "Let's all just keep our pincers to ourselves!"

She gave my tense pincers a pat and cackled loudly. I resisted the urge to smack her in the face and focused on walking.

Silently fuming, I tried to distract myself from the burning anger in my throat by thinking of ways to kill Morgana.

"You know, you look a bit worse for the wear, compared to last time I saw you up close!" Said Morgana. "Don't tell me I'm too much for you? Been hit with Pin Missile one too many times?"

I could crucify her.

"Do you know anybody who's a Nidoking?" Asked Morgana sinisterly. "A rogue, by any chance? Well, _I _do. We caught him yesterday, trying to steal food. The _nerve_ of some of these rebels. Well, he certainly got his comeuppance! Him, his wife, _and_ their four children! Watching them being hanged made _fine _entertainmentfor my master at dinner!"

A muscle in my stomach convulsed.

Nidoking had been a good man.

"Oh, you _do_ know him!" Exclaimed Morgana delightfully. "I can tell from your expression! Would you like to know his last words?"

What I'd like to see is a rope around Morgana's neck. I can easily picture her on the gallows. It almost made me smile.

"Oh, I know you want to!" Cackled Morgana. "Here, I'll tell you, word-for-word..."

She cleared her throat.

"'_You bastards!'"_ She bellowed, in a throaty voice that mimicked Nidoking's. "'_We'll get you! You can't keep this up forever! We're coming for you, Dialga!'"_

Nidoking's bravery pulled at my heartstrings. Morgana's mockery of it made me see red.

"Oh, and then, he started talking about me!" Laughed Morgana. "He said things like, _'we'll get you too, you sick bastard!' _and '_we've got a grave back at camp with you name on it!'_. '_There are Pokémon dying to get their hands on you, Cacturne! You'll regret this when we get a hold of you! We're going to make you wish you were never born!'_"

I'd always admired Nidoking. This confirmed my admiration for him. It was then, with a sinking feeling, I remembered that he was dead.

And it was all because of Morgana. I felt a surge of hatred so powerful I nearly leapt for her throat there and then.

"But after that, his neck snapped, so he couldn't really say anything else!" Said Morgana joyously. "His family didn't say much, 'cause we killed them first, right in front of Nidoking! _Oh_, it was _so_ entertaining to watch Nidoking's reaction."

I went back to imagining ways of torturing Morgana.

"You rebels are so darn violent!" She said loudly, throwing her head back. "And you call _me_ sadistic! You would not believe what kind of _vicious things_ rogues like to say before they _die_."

I could believe that easily. A lot of us passed the time by fantasising about murdering Primal Dialga. We've already planned out exactly what we're going to do to Morgana, in preparation for when we manage to capture her.

We always say 'when' we catch her. Nobody ever dares say 'if'.

"Want me to tell you some more? I'd killed so, so, _so _many of your friends, after all, I've got a whole list of last words to recite to you! But most of your pals were so damn _weak_ they just bawled their eyes out."

I'd had just about enough of this. Death was preferable in comparison to being around Morgana any longer.

"Some of them liked to scream as they died! Most of them bellowed obscenities at my poor master! The cowards liked to sob and cry! And others liked to have a go at me—it's amazing, they all seemed to think I was the devil! Want to know what they said? It's very flattering, really!"

I had to get away from her. I don't care how. She was sick.

"Most of them wanted to _mutilate_ me some way or another! How _flattering _is that?!"

She was immoral, wrong and perverse. I can't hold this up much longer.

So my pincer flashed out and struck her across the face.

For a few moments Morgana seemed stunned. She let out a wild peal of laughter when the pincer made contact and was knocked off balance.

My cheek started to sting horribly. But I ignored it and advanced on Morgana with a sinister, taut smile. I hadn't smiled for so long that turning up my lips was nearly painful.

Morgana swung herself back into balance.

"_YOU!"_ She giggled, jabbing a hand in my direction. "You're a sly little fella, aren't'cha?!"

Her whole body wobble dangerously, as if she was about to fall over backwards. She laughed and giggled hysterically as she wobbled like jelly on a plate. Her eyes were stretched wide and unblinkingly fixated on me. My stomach twisted and churned in disgust.

I took another swipe, aiming to crush her skull. But she wobbled out of the way in the nick of time, giving a shriek of maniacal laughter.

I was getting frustrated, and my cheek hurt. I wildly lunged at her once more but she did the limbo to avoid getting smacked.

"_How low can you go?!_" She asked crazily.

She propelled herself back into a standing position by swinging her arms upward. As her upper body flew up back, she managed to give me a sharp smack on the forehead with her thorn-tipped hands.

I let out a shout of pain as her thorns sliced through my skin. I felt warm, sticky blood running down my face.

Morgana was still laughing. Even though, out of nowhere, a wound identical to mine was manifesting on her forehead.

The blood trickled down her face and collected on her lips. She just grinned at me, blood running down her chin.

She was sick.

"I'M NOT GOING TO TEMPORAL TOWER!" I bellowed.

Morgana's grin widened, distorting her features as it did.

"So, you _can _talk!" She snickered. "I was beginning to think you were mute! _If you don't come to Temporal Tower I'll rip out my tongue and we'll both go mute!"_

I relished the thought of Morgana being mute. I'd sacrifice my own tongue if it meant she'd finally shut up.

However, I wasn't willing to sacrifice my life just yet. It's definitely an option if escaping this situation proves impossible, but for now...

"Move." I grunted, as I gave Morgana a push in the back that nearly sent her toppling over.

"Onward!" She declared, wobbling madly again, that indefatigable grin still on her face. "To Temporal Tower!"

_And so, I was forced to continue my voyage with Morgana. _


End file.
